Three local murder trials could begin next month

Tuesday

Jul 24, 2012 at 12:01 AMJul 24, 2012 at 4:04 PM

By KRIS REILLY Editor

VICTORVILLE • Three Lucerne Valley murder cases could go to trial within the next month, court records show.

Doyle Lynn Webster of Hesperia is facing charges of murder and gross vehicle manslaughter while intoxicated. In May of 2011, Webster was the driver of a quad bike involved in a crash that killed his 21-year-old niece, Danielle Webster of Lucerne Valley.

According to the California Highway Patrol, the driver failed to stop at a stop sign and the vehicle collided with a sport utility vehicle that was traveling northbound on Crystal Creek Road in Lucerne Valley.

Danielle Webster was thrown from the quad and was later pronounced dead at St. Mary Regional Medical Center.

Doyle Lynn Webster, 49, was initially held on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter and felony drunk driving. The district attorney later decided to charge him with murder.

Webster pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on May 24, 2011. At a preliminary hearing on June 21 of this year, the defense made an oral motion to continue the matter for further negotiations. Another hearing is scheduled for July 31 at the Victorville courthouse.

Cesar Antonio Vazquez, 19, of Lucerne Valley, has entered an initial plea of not guilty to charges of murder and assault on a child causing death. He is accused of killing his girlfriend’s son, 2-year-old Damian Negrete, on Feb. 16.

At a May 9 hearing, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s officials testified that the girlfriend’s three other children claimed to see Vazquez beating Damian on the day of the murder. Vazquez himself allegedly told investigators that he beat the boy on two separate occasions that day, including the final beating that took Damian’s life.

Vazquez has pleaded not guilty, and his pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Aug. 10 at the Victorville courthouse. A jury trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 24.

Richard Eric McGill of Lucerne Valley is charged with murder for the killing of his live-in girlfriend last August.

The virtually headless body of Donna Foerstel, 54, was found near a dry lake bed in the Johnson Valley Off-Highway vehicle area on Aug. 13, and McGill was arrested in Kansas three weeks later. A San Bernardino County Deputy Medical Examiner official testified that blunt force trauma to the head caused Foerstel’s death.

The murder apparently occurred when the couple got into an altercation in their small trailer in the area of George Road and East End Road. McGill told investigators that he hadn’t intended to kill Foerstel; but he did allegedly admit that he hid the body in the desert before leaving the state.

The prosecution claims that McGill told an acquaintance he wanted to kill Foerstel about a month before the murder.

McGill, 52, is scheduled to receive a pre-trial hearing Aug. 10, and a jury trial is scheduled for Aug. 20 at the Victorville courthouse.

These schedules are subject to change, and plea deals may be reached before the cases go to trial. Read The Leader for more updates as they become available.